travelling with a board?

General Discussion
1

Hey All,

I know this isn’t exactly a design topic, but… Once you all make a board how to you pack it to travel with it overseas? I know there are a million different board bags out there but the question is, which one is the best? All I have ever had is a day bag and it’s hard to go wrong with that. Also, has anyone ever used the hard cases from Santa Monica Surf Case? Pros and cons? Thanks ahead of time for all of your input! I Love this website!

Zach

P.S. I am going to New Zealand in October, in case you were wondering why I was asking.

2

Buy a board over there then sell it before you leave or leave it there for the next time. Could be cheaper than a hard case too…

3

If it’s glassed well, which is all relative I guess, then just a pull on sock will do. I travelled extensively with my last half dozen boards, planes, trucks, taxis, bikes, without a ding. Removable fins of course.

Maybe I was just lucky.

4

A sock huh? Kinda scary to me. It’s glassed double 6 on top and 6 on the bottom (S glass) so it’s pretty sturdy but I have dinged the rail when the board attacked my shin. How were your boards glassed? Also, I have always been curious about how often you get to surf being that you live in CO? I was born in Pueblo, by the way, and my brother is at school in Boulder.

Not a bad idea on the buying a board in NZ either, Hicksy, but alas… I have already bought a board here in Cali for the trip to NZ.

Anybody else have an opinion on this?

Thanks again!!

5

I always at least put pipe insulation on the rails, with big rubber bands it takes about 30 seconds. Cheap insurance.

6

…the problem is not only the bag, is how many…cause some airlines have heavy taxes for every surfbag…

7 
Howzit Keith, The pipe insulation works real good on the raile around the whole board and just duct tape them to the board. I have used this many times and never got a dinged rail but did get some pressure dents on the deck. The last few times I double bagged the board since one of my bags shrank in the hot mexican sun so it fits inside my other bag now, they are both heavy padded bags and it's a snug fit.Aloha,Kokua
8

Howzit Kokua - I used to duct tape them on, but switched to rubber bands and either way works, but I think the rubber bands are less messy. Plus its real easy to stuff some bubble wrap (if you’ve got it) or even cardboard on the deck or bottom if you want. Double bagging is also a good trick if you really want to be safe (new board or whatever).

9

Let’s see- I tend to overdo it, but then again as a kneelo I can’t really just expect there will be one around to buy if the airline destroys my board…

What I use is a 1/4" padded day bag, inside a 1/2" padded double board travel bag. That seems to work for me. The thing is, when you get there you will want the 1/4" light bag for just hacking around in cars, boats and such. I also throw in a set of soft racks, so that I don’t have to worry about my boards being held to the top of a taxi with third world string.

I tried travelling with a single day bag - and American Airlines lunched the board.

By the way, read up on claim procedures before booking a flight, as you may have to make said claim the moment you get hold of your board at the airport, not when you open it up at your destination and discover you suddenly have a flex-tail. Also, they make the damage claim procedure difficult, tedious and time consuming, just so you will give up and go away. In order to get paid for said lunched board, I had to spend a day being relentlessly nice to an airline baggage claims office, live and in person, and they finally paid up to make me go away.

Non-US-flag airlines, as a general rule, both take far better care of your boards in transit and charge far less for doing it. Some fly your boards for free, or at least they did as of last year, like British Air.

There are some who suggest the ‘board coffins’ that will hold three boards plus your supplies for six months in the jungle. Well, yeah, but they also require a team of Sherpas to lug 'em around the airport. Been there, done that and my back may recover someday.

The new ones have little wheels on them, and if the members of Baggage Handlers and Eviscerators Local 42 don’t manage to tear them off in transit, it might be a good way to go, again with your boards inside padded day bags inside the thing.

Board socks , the knit kind, I have no idea what their real function in life is, beyond absorbing melted wax on hot days and transferring it to the bottom of the board on the next hot day. They protect nothing beyond the retailer’s bank balance.

The Santa Monica travel cases…well, yeah, but…

Take an empty mayonnaise jar, with cover. Take off the cover and carefully put in an egg, then screw the cover back on…

Then shake the jar.

See what I’m driving at here? You need that ubiquitous padded day bag again 'cos otherwise the old saw ‘rattling around like peas in a pod’ starts to strike home real well. Plus they are damned awkward things to carry, plus you will be tempted to throw in a few large appliances to take up that empty space around the board so you need the Sherpas again.

Now, lets do a little math.

Santa Monica Surf Case - $300 and up.

Actually getting it there and back - at least $100US each way. Possibly a lot more. Plus the possibility that the airline will decide to unload the board at 5000 feet or run a forklift through it - and I have seen that last happen far too often, no board bag or case ever made will protect against that.

Or the board gets bumped off the flight and doesn’t arrive for two weeks… that happens too.

As there are some pretty good boards made in NZ, for local conditions there, Hicksey’s suggestion makes a lot of sense.

Order one up with plenty of lead time and it can be waiting for you when you get there. And one of our NZ friends here can probably point you at a good, reputable boardmaker there. And maybe even find a buyer for it when you’re done.

hope that’s of use - considering Oz and N-zed are relatively kneelo-rich environments, it’s what I’d do myself.

doc…

10

that fricking brilliant i geuss this is why i read your post.

11

A hard case is a great way to keep the board safe on the plane, but it ends there. It is a bitch to handle getting it to the airport, and even worse once you get to where your going, it is hard enought to handle a surfboard, think about what it is going to be like with that big ass case. Oh ya I had a friend that got himself a hard case and took it to PR. It was like the workers said, so he thinks this board is safe. He told me it was like they stuck it between the wall and and fork lift and did as much damage as they could. FYI the NZ dollar is 1.3 to one USA dollar, but if I were you I would take a board with me, and it would be a big name board, like a Harbour, a Hap, a Bing, or ? then I would sell it before I left NZ. You could make back every buck that you spent to get the board there, and everything that you spent for the board. As far as packing the other guys have it right on.

12

I have a DaKine day bag that i got a little oversized… i just throw my clothes in with it and pipe insulation on the rails and i’m good to go… (removable fins)

13

The other consideration is whether your board will get there at all :frowning: I’m also kneeboarder and brought two blanks with me (triple wrapped in everything imaginable) to my home in Indonesia. The blanks never arrived on my flight, and sixth months later malaysia airlines were still telling me they were tracing the blanks (KL, cairo, hongkong, colombo.) It took a year before they admitted they were lost and then they only compensated me a fraction of the cost of replacing them. Luckily I had some old boards here to ride, but if it was someone coming to Indon for a months holiday…

Tom

14

Yeah, I know, I haven’t surfed much lately. I really know.

But my boards back then were pu/pe, sealed blank, 4/4 deck 4/4 bottom all ‘s’ glass, fully lapped rails each layer glassed seperately. If you picked them up you would say they were lightweight, and seriously, that was all I did, put them in a sock style boardbag. The only little chip I got near the tail on one I fixed in two seconds with superglue.

Even though I’m in Colorado now, I’ve never caught a wave in the USA, so my boards never had to deal with airlines here, and reading others comments it sounds like they don’t get good treatment here at any time.

If you’re going to NZ you should try and line up a board from silly and sell it before you leave. Travelling without a board lately is such a luxury.

My first surf craft was a mat, the perfect travelling wave rider, but I do prefer a board to stand on.

Hey, have fun in NZ, there’s good waves and good people, and good sheep too.

15

Wildy, sorry to rub that in. I definitely didn’t mean to remind you about not getting to surf. Where do you go when you do? You do any whitewater kayaking?

Doc, that is a ton of information! Thank you so much! You always seem to have all the answers, at least to my questions.

Everybody, thanks for such great responses to my question. I am still not sure exactly how I want to pack it but I have a much better idea of where to start. The pipe insulation is PURE GENIUS!! It lead me to thinking about making a layer of “half pipes” side by side over the deck and the bottom so that the whole board is encased in it. I figured padded arches might be a good way to go. Both soft and stong? Who knows, but thanks again everybody!

16

well

good luck

if it dont make it give me a call.

id be happy to loan you one

ive to many of the bloody things lying around by now

nothing flash mind you

enjoy the waves

i heard a funny story that miki dora lived here for a while

and had to leave in a hurry

dont know if its true

17

Doc!!

That post was classic!

Your board sock comments really had me going.

Looks like Doc and and I have had similar experiences.

Have had plenty o’ damage in the name of travel.

Day bag didnt cut it so now I double bag mine as well.

Hey John,

how bout stretch wrap to secure that pipe insulation on?

I’ll tell you what, having a roll of that stuff around sure comes in handy…I used to think duct tape was the sh_t, but stretch wrap blows everything away cuz there’s no sticky mess…its borderline miraculous.

I’d say toilet paper is the best invention ever…but Im thinking stretch wrap is up there too.

Cheers

.

18

A caution on the pipe insulation. In the States there are at least two kinds. The most common kind is charcoal grey (clearly not black), has fairly coarse bubbles. and is fairly shiny. The second, which I suspect is actually better at insulating pipes, is just off dead black in color, has much smaller bubbles, and is not at all shiny - strong cosmetic resemblence to neoprene. I’ve used both types for cushioning truck-top surf racks. The “shiny stuff” appears to have good UV and weather resistance - I had no breakdown issues for at least two seasons of use. The “neoprene-like” stuff, however, which has a “skin”, started deteriorating after about a month, ultimately left the “skin” glued to whatever it contacted, which was damned difficult to remove. So, if whatever padding you concoct is going to spend any appreciable time in the sun, I’d stay away from type #2…

-Samiam

19

Paul, thanks for the generosity (sp?). Maybe we can surf sometime when I am down there? I’ll be there for 10 months and living in Christchurch for most of that. Where are you at?

Craftee, amazing idea with the stretch wrap. Thanks!

Samiam, I had the same thing happen to my rack padding. That was definitely annoying! Thanks for heads up on the other stuff. I dont want all that skin crap all over my beautiful board.

20

Hey, Craftee -

Yeah, being stuck somewhere in Centro with no usable boards…more than a bummer. And if you are going to be anywhere for any length of time, I think having a light bag along to prevent those doorway dings, car shatters and boat bangs is a good move. I made enough money over the years fixing other people’s dings, got no desire at all to get practice on my own boards.

For what it’s worth, apparently Quantas will allow a board ( up to a certain size - check their site at www.quantas.com ) as luggage, unlike US flag airlines, when going to Oz and Nzed. But if you book through a US carrier…even if it is actually a Quantas flight… you get banged for their fee.

Another travel tip- see if the airline you are going to book with has ‘baggage embargoes’ when they don’t take oversized extra bags. Talk about a nasty surprise at the airport…

Quote:

I’d say toilet paper is the best invention ever…but Im thinking stretch wrap is up there too.

May be…but don’t ever confuse the two. Kinda defines ‘this could get ugly’… A hair dryer will tighten up the plastic wrap nicely, be careful if you use an electric iron.

Pipe insulation - also comes in blue and yellow besides the pale gray. The stuff they use in the ‘good for padding rails’ kind is the same stuff that’s used for board bag padding and boogie board cores. I think it’s an extruded polyethylene or polypropylene foam. It’s also available as what’s called ‘pool noodles’, thick-walled tubes of the stuff used for god knows what, Sections of those make great pads in home made soft racks or replacement pads for old ones.

As an aside, while I am thinking of that, before taking a long highway trip with your board strapped to the top of the car via soft racks, it might be a Real Good Idea to check the stitching, see how it’s holding up. Travel indeed has its hazards, any kind of travel.

Frayed, missing or popped stitches mean it’s time to buy Mom some #18 large sewing machine needles and #92 dacron sail thread. http://www.strapworks.com/webbingacc.html shows a strap, buckle and pad in good shape, and the company itself http://www.strapworks.com/ is a very good source for everything you’ll need to make your own soft racks, tiedown straps, backpack straps, dog sled harnesses or what have you. I have used them several times and have nothing bad to say about them at all - highly reccommended.

Happy landings

doc…